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Our destination for the night was the CMC Camp, which according to the Jackson/Ortenberger guide is one of the finest in the range. Scott, Jeff and Matt down low with the East and West Prongs, and the Black Dike visible above:
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Looking back down on Leigh Lake:
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The sublime CMC Camp, which I would rate a close second behind the Charlotte Dome camp in the Sierra:
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The view looking up from my bivy spot (in B&W):
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Pinhole view looking south toward the Grand Teton:
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Got up early next morning - but not too early, as the key was timing the approach to Drizzlepuss, so we could do the downclimb in daylight -- and began our ascent from camp. With all the fires going on out west, skies were very smokey/hazy all week, limiting visibility, but providing for some pretty sweet sunsets/sunrises (the ridge of the East Prong in silhouette):
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Looking back down the approach to the top of Drizzlepuss, at an Exum-guided party (they and one other party attempted the CMC that day, but both bailed at the top of Drizzlepuss):
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Looking over to and up the CMC face from the top of Drizzlepuss:
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The first couple moves of the downclimb of the Drizzlepuss face are steep, exposed and a little intimidating, but it gets easy after a couple moves, and continues down a 4th class ledge system to a rappel. Scott working his way down to the rappel:
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The first pitch out of the notch, Scott on lead on our rope:
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Scott could have continued climbing to the top, but decided to stop and belay me up after about 150 feet so I could lead the simul-climbing to the top, as he'd been climbing in the Tetons for about a week prior to my arrival. I gladly accepted and we made very quick work of the face. Looking down from on high, Matt and Jeff's ropeteam down there somewhere:
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At the end of the 5th class climbing, Scott relaxing, waiting for Matt & Jeff:
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Long-arm shot, with the remaining 400 feet or so of climbing remaining, the Black Dike visible at right:
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Scott photographing Jeff pulling the last move through the steep headwall where we'd chosen to go:
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We more or less headed stright up on steepish slabs to the top; Jeff and Matt:
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Scott, me, Matt and Jeff on the summit:
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The USGS summit marker:
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We hustled down and got back to town around 5:30 to enjoy some beers and food at the Snake River Brewing Co. Next day was a planned rest day, but Scott decided a rest day meant not making a long approach to climb something, so we agreed to go check out the Dihedral of Horrors in Death Canyon, a 3-pitch 5.9. Well, after approaching some 3+ miles in searing temperatures, and seeing our objective many vertical feet and lots of effort above us still, we decided this wasn't a good idea for a rest day after all, especially since our goal the next day was the long and involved approach to the North Ridge of the Grand Teton via Valahalla Canyon (i.e., the West Grandstand approach). So we bailed and hit the Snake River for some swimming and sunning. That evening we fueled up at camp with some T-bones and sauteed onions, squash and portobella mushrooms:
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Next day, we took the ferry across Jenny Lake and began the approach to Valhalla Canyon via Cascade Canyon. The four of us in Cascade Canyon:
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Well, finding Valhalla Canyon proved a little difficult, but when we finally hit upon it, everything went smoothly -- we hiked up through forest and glen, scrambled up rock bands, hopped our way across endless talus, did the one-step-forward-two-steps-back scree shuffle, and some 4,000 vertical feet later . . . we realized we were no where f@&$%ing near Valhalla Canyon!!!! The realization was heavy and stark. So back down we went. Some discussion ensued about what to do, and in the end, the majority decision was to haul ass back down to try to catch the last ferry back (6pm) across the lake and head back to camp to discuss our next plan of attack. At the Brewery, the decision was made to take a total rest day the following day, then head back in Thursday/Friday to approach and do the North Ridge. We consulted maps to find out what damn canyon we did wind up in, and could find no name for it. Hence we named it Errant Canyon.
Our rest day was spent milling around Jackson, doing laundry at the Climbers' Ranch, and doing some light bouldering on the bouldering wall in town (the Teton Boulder Project at the Snow King Recreation Area -- a must-see if you are a climber visiting Jackson).
Thursday, back in we went, and this time, we got it right. Crossing Cascade Creek:
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Matt doing some 'schwackaineering in Valhalla Canyon:
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Negotiating the cliff band that guards the entrance to the upper canyon:
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Redneck first aid, after Jeff nearly impaled his cranium on a spiky deadfall branch:
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Scott at a rest stop, the upper reaches of the canyon in view:
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The approach to the Grandstand, where we planned to bivy for the night, is a long affair (9 miles or so, nearly 6,000 feet of elevation gain), but with the least objective hazards as compared to other options. We arrived there in good time. The bivy site the next morning, as we prepare to climb the North Ridge (we fit three of us tightly in the small enclosure, with one just outside it below the north end of enclosure):
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Of note, that evening while we bivied, bats or "swifties" (or both) divebombed us at ridiculous rates of speed all night long, the constant "PFFFFTTTTTTT!!!!" of their seemingly supersonic pursuit of moths in the ether above us strafing the starry night sky and breaking the silence of an otherwise tranquil setting. It was bizarre as hell and totally fascinating!
Friday morning, we began our ascent of the North Ridge, via the Italian Cracks variation. Scott on the massive stone of the North Ridge:
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Close-up of Scott, having just passed behind the "large block":
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Scott approaching the belay, at the crux moves of the first Italian Cracks pitch (with the Teton Glacier far below):
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Matt on lead approaching the same spot:
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Scott enjoying a spacious belay on the Second Ledge, the last warm spot on the climb until the summit:
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Once up the Second Ledge and around to the northwest corner of the Grand, things got shady, windy and cold. A few strenous chimneys led to a final pitch where I'm sure I got off route, and wound up pulling some very steep, runout, slabby moves (definitely harder than the 5.7 the pitch was supposed to be) before finally breathing a sigh of relief when I hit a left-slanting crack that finally offered me protection some 40 feet above my last piece. Looking down on the shadowy northwest face, Scott approaching the top of the pitch:
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Scott just below the last pitch topout, with Mt. Owen and the Teton Glacier below:
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The four of us on the summit:
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The summit marker:
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Me doing stupid human tricks on the summit block:
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Scott and me on the summit, with Matt in the background:
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It was a great day all-around, and the realization of a longstanding goal to climb the North Ridge (a couple previous attempts ended in failure).
The plan from there was to descend to the Lower Saddle, where Matt would bid us adieu as his presence was required in SLC the following day, and Scott, Jeff and me would spend the night before making an attempt on the Direct Exum the next morning. Light hitting the Exum Ridge and the upper Grand, taken from my sleeping bag at our bivy spot in the Lower Saddle:
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The next morning, we were up at 4:15am, walking by 5:00, and climbing by 6:00. Since I'd climbed the Lower Exum once before (back in '07), I deferred the leads to Scott and Jeff. With a 70m rope, we climbed the entire Lower Exum in three long pitches. Scott led the 5th class approach (yeah, we were a little off-route on the approach) and the Chockstone Chimney, with Jeff leading the next block to the top of the awkward v-chimney. We relocated the belay about 25 feet, and Scott gave Jeff the ridiculously superlative Black Face lead to the top (if there is a better 200 or so feet of climbing in the world, I'd have to see it to believe it -- it doesn't get much better than this pitch). Jeff setting off on the Black Face pitch:
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Jeff, with the Black Face looming steeply above:
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Scott, up high near the top of the Black Face pitch, the Lower Saddle far below him:
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Scott near the top of the Lower Exum, with the Middle Teton behind him:
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From there, we doubled over the 70m rope, slightly offset the middle mark by about 15 feet, and tied Scott into the lead with Jeff and I on the trailing double strands. We switched from rock shoes to approach shoes and began the sprint to the top via the Upper Exum. Miraculously, we encountered no other groups on the route. Jeff climbing out of the Wind Tunnel:
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Jeff on the granite goodness, with Garnet Canyon far, far below:
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Yours truly at one of our brief belay stops, at the base of the Friction Pitch:
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Scott motoring up the Friction Pitch:
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Jeff on the Friction Pitch:
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More Jeff, with the Middle Teton receding far below and right:
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Scott heading up the V-Notch Pitch:
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Jeff approaching the top of the V-Notch Pitch, with the Lower Saddle way down below:
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Time to drop the rope:
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A bit of scrambling later, and I was kissing the summit marker:
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It took us only 4 1/2 hours from the start of the climbing to the top of the Grand via the Complete Exum -- we were pretty stoked! Jeff, me and Scott, celebrating our "deuce" -- two times on top of the Grand in two days!
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Well, that's it for my (mostly shitty) pictures. Thanks for staying tuned. Here's where I take the time to thank my illustrious partners for an utterly amazing time in one of the finest mountain ranges in the world. You guys are truly amazing. Couldn't have found three finer people to share this fantastic adventure with. Here's to many, many more to come:
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